


Introduction to Vidding

by such_heights



Category: Community
Genre: Fandom, Gen, Inspector Spacetime - Freeform, vidding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-19
Updated: 2012-12-19
Packaged: 2017-11-21 12:28:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/597766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/such_heights/pseuds/such_heights
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's crunchtime for Festivids. Abed asks for Annie's help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Introduction to Vidding

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thingswithwings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thingswithwings/gifts).



When Annie gets home on Wednesday evening after her debate team meeting, she's not surprised to hear the soft hum of Abed's laptop coming from inside the blanketfort. Troy's at football practice, and she expects that Abed is hunched over his computer, working on some project that's much more interesting than whatever homework it is he's meant to be doing. 

She goes into the kitchen and puts her backpack on the counter, fishing some orange juice out of the fridge. She takes her organiser out and starts going through her to-do list, making neat ticks next to each item that she's already accomplished. At this rate she's going to get a chance to start making some initial revision outlines this weekend. Finals aren't for months, but you can't be too prepared. 

Troy and Abed would probably both disagree with that assessment, but they get that she needs to feel on top of things and let her get on with it. 

Maybe she'll cook tonight. It's not her turn, but she's got time, and she's in the mood. If she starts now, by the time Troy gets home it'll be ready to eat, and they can be cleared up in time to watch a couple of episodes of Once Upon a Time, their current show of choice. They're near the end of season one, and mostly Annie and Troy spend a lot of time squeeing over how great Emma Swan is while Abed plays Spot the Trope Bingo and gets a bit annoyed when yet another character's tragic backstory is revealed to centre around True Love. 

Annie's wondering what exactly it is Snow did to Regina back in the Enchanted Forest when Abed pokes his head through the blanket wall.

"Hey, Annie! I didn't hear you come in. Are you busy?"

"No, not really. What's up?"

"I could use a second opinion on something." He draws back one of the blankets and makes a sweeping gesture. "Please, enter."

Annie's glad that she doesn't have to live in a blanketfort all the time, but she does love the way it's a permanent fixture in the apartment. Abed sits back down in front of his laptop, leaving enough room for her to sit next to him. She settles down among the cushions and bumps her knee against his with a smile.

"What are you working on?" she asks.

"It's a fanvid," says Abed.

The term isn't too familiar to Annie, so she thinks for a second. "Oh, like those things you see on youtube? With all the colours and the slow fades?"

Abed nods. "I wouldn't say my work is too connected to the youtube school of vidders, but they're related. I've been vidding for years, but the one I'm making right now is a gift for someone else and I could use a second opinion."

"Sure. Who's the gift for? Anyone I know?"

"No, it's an internet challenge - you sign up and get given someone else's request as an assignment." Abed pulled an email with a section highlighted.

> REQUEST: Inspector Spacetime (Classic)
> 
> Music: anything goes!
> 
> Details: I love every Inspector, but my very favourite is the Seventh Inspector and his relationship with Diamond. I just have a lot of feelings! Anything about how to grow to work together and learn from each other would be wonderful.

"Aw, Seven and Di!" Annie claps her hands together. "I love them too!" They've been watching a lot of that era of Spacetime lately - The Mark of Trout, where it transpired that Di was actually half-fish; Chessboard, where Constable (now Detective Inspector) Reggie came out of retirement to help defeat a bunch of chess pieces come to life; The Optimism Squad, which Annie had bailed on after the first part due to the garish yellow everywhere and the trauma of the Cookie Monster, which was disappointingly nothing like Sesame Street. She guesses Abed has had this project in mind the whole time.

"So can I show you what I have so far?" Abed asks.

"Yes please!" Annie's curious now.

Abed yanks his laptop closer and presses play. 

Annie may not know a lot about fanvids, but she can tell that this is brilliant. The editing is incredibly slick, and it makes the dated source look fresh and modern and exciting. Abed has found all kinds of interesting shots and used them to perfection, taking the viewer on a rollercoaster ride through the world of the Seventh Inspector, each moment expertly timed to the beat of the music, which feels like it's been written especially for this purpose. 

The whole thing is exhilarating, and when it comes to a crashing crescendo of an ending, the shots slowly pulling back and back until they're hurtling through space again, fading to black, Annie lets out a breath.

"Wow, Abed! That's incredible!" 

The look he gives her is unusually shy. "Do you really think so? Don't butter me up to spare my feelings, I can take criticism."

"No, honestly, that was amazing. I don't know a lot about it, but if someone made this for me, I'd be thrilled."

He smiles at that. "Okay, that's good to know. Thanks, Annie."

He goes back to the email and frowns. "I'm just worried that this doesn't fulfil the request. I don't know that it does a very good job of looking at Seven and Di's friendship. My recipient wants feelings, and that's not really my strong suit."

"Hmm." Annie considers this. "Well, I loved all of those moments you found from different episodes where you could see the parallels and the development - the running and the holding hands and the saving each other. But it does feel like there's something missing, only I can't figure out what it is."

"Facial expressions," Abed supplies. "It never occurs to me to focus on them, but I guess I should in this case."

"Right! Yeah, okay, so I suppose there are lots of those quieter character moments that you haven't really shown. Hm. Well, what about the end of Trout? You know, after all the explosions, when they see each other for who they really are and it's this big turning point in their friendship?"

Abed nods. "Yeah, stuff like that doesn't really stand out for me. It's all emotional nuance and subtle acting choices and it goes over my head." He makes a whooshing gesture. "Could you make a list?"

"I think I could probably do that," Annie says, her eyes lighting up. She does love writing lists.

*

A week later, Abed shows her and Troy his new draft. He's incorporated some of her suggestions, zooming in on Di's face now and then amidst all of the action shots in a way that makes her heart clench. By the end of the vid, she's bouncing up and down in her seat a bit and desperate to go back and watch their entire run _right now_. 

Troy makes a sneaky grab for the tissue box. "Great job, buddy," he says, his voice a little tight.

Abed looks delighted. "Cool cool cool."

*

After that, Annie finds herself casually thinking about vidding when she's out walking and listening to music. Songs start reminding her of characters or relationships, and particular scenes stand out in her mind.

"Caught the bug, huh?" Abed says when she tells him this. "I can teach you how this weekend if you want."

"Yes please!"

So Abed sits her down and takes her through aspect ratios and storyboarding and clipping and file formats. It's a lot of information but Abed's a really good teacher, patient and happy to go over things until Annie feels like she's written enough notes to understand the general concepts.

And to start with, it's _awesome_. She decides she wants to make a vid about Tony and Bruce from the Avengers, and not just because that means she can spend a lot of time sighing dreamily over Mark Ruffalo. She picks a bouncy pop song and the feeling of seeing the clips match up to the lyrics about finding yourself and making friends is incredibly fun. Not to mention addictive, she ends up seriously regretting after she stays up way past her bedtime and feels like a zombie in class the next morning. 

But then comes the instrumental section. Then comes realising she's already used all the good clips - dammit, why has the Marvel franchise produced Hulk films with three different actors, leaving the first two somewhat unusable? Then comes the sinking feeling that this whole idea is stupid anyway and where is she even going with this, especially compared to Abed, who it turns out has a whole body of work that is all amazing and extremely popular. 

She slinks into the kitchen for dinner, feeling grumpy and dejected. "Vidding is a stupid hobby," she declares, sitting down at the table as Troy proudly puts out plates to serve macaroni and cheese that he's made himself, no packets involved.

"Oh, you've reached that point?" Abed asks.

"What point?"

"Don't worry, this happens to everyone all the time. You're stuck, there are technical difficulties, it's not looking as good as it did in your head. We've all been there. Happens to be pretty much every time I make something."

"Really?"

"Sure. It's fine. All part of the process."

"I bet what you're doing is awesome," Troy adds. "I can't wait to see it!"

"Oh, well, okay," Annie says, softening slightly. "Do you want to take a look at what I've got so far?"

"Absolutely." Abed spreads his hands wide and puts on a familiar Hollywood director voice. "We're gonna make you a star."

She grins. "Thanks, Abed. It's still a stupid hobby, though, if you ask me."

Abed nods sagely. "Yeah, it is."


End file.
